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My friend and colleague Kimm Woodward has written a fantastic e-book called “The Herbal A-Z”. Kimm is a herbalist and an acupuncturist so is trained in both both Western and Chinese naturopathic philosophy and combines both of these in her book.

Kimm had a successful clinic in SE Queensland, Australia, for many years, and now that she has become an “Elder”, she decided to write down what she knows so it can pass into the hands of the next generation. Wanting her wisdom to be accessible to as many people as possible, she asked me to turn the raw material into an e-book and use my knowledge of the internet to “Get it Out There”.

The Herbal A to Z provides herbalists with an A-Z list of common ailments and the herbs traditionally used in their treatment.

It is a user friendly ready reference for practitioners and the curious. This apparently simple collection of information is  the summary of hundreds of years of research, experimentation, observation and learning by well known herbalists and writers who collected the information originally.  Kimm has collated and condensed it.

Even experienced herbalists will benefit from having this book in their clinic, because we all use herbs  differently and there is always more to learn. Those newer to this calling will find it especially invaluable.

Many of my friends are herbalists, which means we often end up talking herbs when we get together and swap information. It has always been so with those of us drawn to this calling! I love learning new ways to use my favourite herbs.

I trained with arguably the best herbalist in Australia, Dorothy Hall, towards the end of her career when she had been practising for over 55 years and teaching for over 40 years. I have now been in clinical practice for  over 10 years myself. In addition to this, I’ve been personally mentored by Ian White, founder of Australian Bush Flower Essences and Annie Meredith, an acuncturist, for my training as Senior Lecturer with Bush Essences. This work has brought me in contact with amazing healers and world class herbalists from all over Australia, the USA and Canada.

Even so, I learnt a lot when I read The Herbal A – Z. Not that this came as a surprise, I believe there is always lots more to learn about herbal medicine. One of the things I love about it is that I will never know more than a fraction of what there is to know. One can never be bored.

I immediately printed off a copy for my clinic and have been referring to it ever since.

My point is that this is a very practical and easy to use reference guide to have on your desk and you will use it daily.

Also included are additional pages:

• Common Herbs Listed According to Their Function and
• Vitamins in Food and Herbs

It is one thing to get a person well – but they need to keep themselves that way and so ‘food as medicine’ is valuable information for you to be able to share with your clients.

If you think the day may come when this knowledge may be lost buy this book.

If you are curious about herbal medicines that may have been used to treat an illness in the past, this is the book for you.

This book could also be of interest to the innovative medical researcher of the future.

To order click here

After payment, you will immediately be provided with an electronic version of the book to save to your computer and print off.

Please come back here and share your thoughts on the book with me and others.

Bruises respond well to topical applications of herbs, but for bid or deep bruises, internal herbs are also recommended.

Soak a cotton pad with Witchazel Lotion or 1stAde solution and apply as a compress to the affected area for between 15 and 60 minutes, depending upon the severity of the bruise. Repeat one to two times daily until all soreness, swelling and discolouration is completely gone.

You can also apply take homeopathic Arnica:

After the compress, apply Herbal Healer to the bruise several times daily.

Like all herbal medicines, the sooner you start the remedy, the faster and better the result. If it was not possible to apply these healing herbs immediately after the injury, start as soon as possible – better late than never. I

If you have a very old bruise that still feels hard and / or a little tender even months or years later, apply one of these herbs at least once a day until the area feels normal once again; this may take many months but it is important that it be done.

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Weekends, in the middle of the night, whilst overseas or out camping are all times when medical help is not as readily available as you might like. This is when a well stocked first aid kit comes in handy, and there are many safe, simple and economical natural remedies that can be of assistance until more help is at hand.

Insect stings respond very well to an application of Nettles ointment. I have used Nettles successfully with wasps, fleas, mozzies, ants, leeches, ticks and march flies. And of course, close encounters with Nettles herself. Apart from the fact that it works quickly, the best thing about this remedy is that the sting does not continue to come up itchy again in the following days and weeks.You can also make up Nettles Tea and apply it as a lotion compress. Nettles tea is available to buy by clicking the icon immediately below.

If applied immediately Nettles as an ointment or lotion / compress will soothe the bite within ten minutes (and that will usually be the last you think of it). If its still itchy after ten minutes, repeat the application at ten minute intervals until you have relief. Three times is nearly always enough.

Be aware that Nettles ointment will only relieve the itch from ticks. It is VITAL that the tick is removed fully by the head and any other symptoms watched for and immediately treated because tick bites can quickly prove fatal.

Chickweed is another good remedy for itching this time for the itching of eczema and psoriasis. You can also take it as a tea for eczema or psoriasis. Chickweed is a herb that you can both put on the outside while you are taking it on the inside. Chickweed ointment is very soothing if the skin is really dry.

My Soothing Itch Balm is absolutely wonderful for people, horses and dogs – click below for more information and to buy.

• Soothing Itch Balm for people
• Soothing Itch Balm for horses
  
• Soothing Itch Balm for dogs

(But do not use Soothing Itch Balm on cats – they are very sensitive and the essential oils in this formula are way too strong for cats to use it safely).

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When you get stressed, your brain responds by telling your adrenal glands to secrete the hormone adrenaline. This is the fight or flight hormone. If you get a fright, nature instantly turns on your survival response. Blood is diverted away from your digestion to your heart, brain and muscles; your heart and breathing rates increase, your muscles tense (ready for action) and your blood pressure goes up. All of this is designed to enable you to attack whatever is threatening you, or run away from it whatever your brain believes is the best option in the circumstances.

This is a biological hangover from earlier times, when sabre tooth tigers and marauding war parties lurked at the cave or castle entrance. The adrenal response is just as useful today in life threatening situations being accosted in a dark alley, being caught up in a natural disaster, getting stuck halfway down a cliff, finding a loved one underneath something heavy. There are many stories of people displaying incredible strength and presence of mind in such circumstances, feats that they would normally not be capable of. All thanks to the adrenal response.

However often the threat not quite so immediate or overt. Nonetheless your body still responds the way nature has programmed it to in times of danger adrenally. Good examples of this in modern times include: foreclosure or bankruptcy proceedings; wondering if you can make your mortgage or rent repayments; fear of terrorist attack; the government deciding to forcefully resume your home to build major infrastruture; your boss threatening to sack you; worrying if you can feed yourself and your family; someone nearly running into you in your car; a violent or abusive relationship; bullying. You probably call these things stress. Your body regards them as threats to your survival.

In civilised society, it is deemed unacceptable to belt politicians, bank managers or bosses whom you believe are threatening your survival in the aforementioned ways. The police tend to take you away and lock you up, adding to your stress. Often, it is simply not possible to run away from the stress either. Which leaves your body all hyped up and with no place to go.

Normally, once the danger has passed, your body secretes another hormone to return you to your former relaxed state. However with these types of ongoing modern day stresses, your body remains in a state of high alert ready to fight or flee.

The physical effects of this in the short term include any of the following: high blood pressure, raised pulse rate, poor digestion, muscle tension, aggression, anxiety, panic attacks, lowered immunity and reproductive problems.

High levels of circulating adrenaline over an extended period of time can cause heart problems, thyroid imbalance, infertility, vulnerability to communicable diseases, auto-immune disorders and cancer. Stress can, potentially, have serious repercussions on your health and longevity. There are many natural remedies that can help. with stress. Australian Bush Flower Essences have two very good combinations for stress – Calm and Clear and Emergency Essence, available here.

Herbs that can be useful include the generally calming and soothing Chamomile Tea. Rosehips Tea, being full of Vitamin C, has a tonic effect on the adrenals and helps you to cope with large challenges.

Should these fail to help, professional herbalists have many practitioner strength herbs which will be of great assistance.

If your stress levels are high, or stress has been going on for more than a month, you really need to seek professional advice and not try to self diagnose or self treat.

Meditation, yoga, massage, exercising, spending time relaxing with friends or pursuing a hobby you enjoy, are all other excellent ways to alleviate stress. A good counsellor is also invaluable for helping you put things into perspective and for giving you tools to deal with your situation.

Avoid coffee and cigarettes. They make you feel better at the time because they give your adrenal glands a boot to produce more adrenaline. However ultimately they deplete your adrenal glands, leaving you less able to cope than ever.

The natural remedies listed above not only help you feel better in the short term, but actively build your reserve energy and strength.

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One of the things I love about herbal medicine is the many different ways it can be administered. If foul tasting brews from brown bottles are not for you, another option is a poultice. (Or try my home made herbal extracts instead of commercially manufactured herbs people tell me they arent so bad after all. There are many reasons why hand made herbal extracts taste better than machine made).

Historical novels and texts always used to fascinate me in my pre-herbalist days with their references to poultices, administered by the village wise woman / herb lady / midwife. My formal training as an herbalist didnt go into a lot of detail on poultices except about the technical difference between a poultice and a compress. (A poultice is vegetable material laid over the skin and bandaged in place. A compress is a piece of cloth saturated with oil or an herbal extract (or tea) and held in place with a bandage).

Consequently, when I commenced clinical practice I didnt quite know what to say when anyone asked if they should be poulticing. Feeling a gap in my knowledge, I took myself off to learn from the Queen of Poulticing, Margaret Wright, a retired naturopath who lived nearby.

Margaret is a beautiful old lady with great wisdom and an unerring faith in the ability of the body to heal itself. Like me, she has always seen her role as deciding what natural remedies are needed to best assist that process. Thanks to Margaret, poulticing is not a lost art in these parts. One of her many pearls of wisdom is that poultices are a wonderful tool when treating children as they involve TLC in their application and feel so soothing from the moment they go on.

Most old herb books talk about a poultice of herbs which is covered with a piece of bread, then held in place with a bandage, and left for a few days before being changed. While the effectiveness of this has been dismissed as old wives tales by science, it is worth noting that old fashioned bread (preservative free), made with organic ingredients (what else was there in the old days), goes mouldy in a few days. By some wild coincidence, Penicillin was first made from mould.

Probably the most widely used poultice today is made from grated raw potato. Its hard to find anything better for drawing out infection and foreign material. Applied each night, it is amazing to watch. One of my young clients had two huge mystery boils appear on her leg which even the doctor couldnt explain nor antibiotics clear. Her worried mother came to me for help and I suggested a potato poultice at night and a castor oil compress during the day. This was applied for several months until a piece of stick about 1cm long appeared at the skin surface one morning. Several slightly smaller pieces appeared over the following days. The inflammation then rapidly went and the wound stopped oozing. A fortnight later the girls leg looked completely normal. There was no scarring. As is so often the case with natural remedies, patience, perseverance and the correct remedy were rewarded with complete healing of the body as if the problem had never been.

Garlic poultices are also very popular. These are great for any chest infections and even asthma attacks especially those that come on at three oclock in the morning or when you are miles from nowhere. Garlic is one of natures miracle workers. In a test tube it kills staphylococcal and tuberculosis bacteria as well as parasites and cancer cells. Finely chopped and applied to the feet in a base of olive oil, it will be smelt on the breath within fifteen minutes, hence why a garlic poultice is so good for lung complaints.It is a good alternative for those who do not like the taste of garlic, or who get indigestion from eating garlic.

More posts will follow on speciifc poultices over time, so check back again from time to time for updates. You may even find a video demo on how to apply one!

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Coughs are sometimes viral in origin in which case you can use the information in Colds with good effect.

However most common coughs are the result of a bacterial infection, often from the Staphlococcal family of bacteria. Garlic has been used for thousands of years for chest infections and its beneficial action is thought to be due to the large amount of Sulphur it contains. Sulphur is the bit that makes it smell, so odourless garlic (which has the sulphur removed) is not necessarily going to work on infections. Pharmaceutical companies know all about Sulphur there is a whole class of antibiotics based on it the Sulphonamides.

Honey helps make Garlic more palatable and is very soothing to a throat made sore from too much coughing, so Garlic Honey has been on the herbalist’s shelf for many thousands of years. My home always has a big jar of unheated honey and organic garlic sitting by the window in the sun, steeping all through spring and summer, so it it is ready for the coughs that many of my clients experience with the change of season in Autumn.

Coughs can occur by themselves as a bacterial infection, or as a secondary infection following a cold or flu. There are generally two types of cough dry and moist. They can also be a symptom of a more serious underlying condition including whooping cough, tuberculosis, pneumonia, emphysema or lung cancer, so if a cough persists or rapidly worsens you need to seek urgent medical advice.

Dry coughs are usually rasping and tickly and paroxysmal, so that one cough sparks yet more coughing. There are a number of herbs which are excellent for this sort of cough Pulsatilla and Mullein are two of my favourites. For the dryness in the airways, herbs such as marshmallow root can also bring relief. All of these can be taken as teas. If this sort of cough persists or is accompaned by shortness of breathe it is very important to seek immediate medical aid as it may be a sign of a serious condition such as asthma or choking.

Wet coughs are when phlegm is produced. Hopefully you are able to bring this up if not you would benefit form some expectorant herbs. These assist your lungs with their natural healing process of eliminating the phlegm. Liqourice tea is a good home remedy for milder coughs of this nature. It is very important to cough the phlegm out otherwise it can become hardened and stuck and can cause a longer term, deeper infection – including bronchitis, pleurisy and pneumonia, all of which are potentially very serious and sometimes fatal. A qualified herbalist can assist you with expectorant herbs, which loosen and soften the phlegm and give your lungs the energy they need to cough it out.

As with colds, other supportive measures include:

• Vitamin C either in tablet or powder form as per the recommended dosage or in the form of Rosehips tea, freshly squeezed orange juice, or a hot lemon drink (add some honey to soothe your throat and for its antiseptic effect).
• Keep warm, especially if its windy, paying particular attention to your chest and feet.
• Rest. Winter is a time of slowing down, going within, and restinganimals hibernate and plants go dormantthere is a good reason for this. Copy them.
• Slow cooked soups and casseroles, hot teas and warm lemon and honey drinks are perfect comfort and soul food to keep you healthy during winter.
• Eat orange foods. Mother Earth colour codes her plants so you can know at a glance what nutrition they contain. Orange indicates beta carotene and/or vitamin A both tonics for the mucous membranes. Vitamin A is also present in high quantities in fish and fish oilespecially Cod Liver & Halibut Oils.

A good herbal extract for a broad spectrum of coughs is available through my clinic if you live locally to me. THis is good to have on hand through the cough season so you can take it at the first sign. As with all natural remedies, the sooner you start using them after the onset of symptoms, the better and more rapid the result. I can also customise a mixture to suit you individual needs if you already have a cough.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine the lungs are associated with grief. Take some time to ponder whether you are holding any sadness or grief either from recently or from the past. Flower Essences can help balance your emotions. Sturt Desert Pea is used for long held grief and sadness. Red Suva Frangipani is more for fresh grief, while Illawarra Flame Tree helps to energetically support immunity.

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It is only recently that western medicine has had drugs effective against viruses, but herbalists have been effectively treating viral infections for thousands of years with a wide variety of plants. There is an old saying amongst doctors that a cold will last 7 days with treatment or a week without as a herbalist I would beg to differ.

Colds and Influenza (flu – including swine flu) are caused by viruses, so antibiotics dont work what is needed is anti viral agents.You probably have more than one of these natural remedies in your kitchen right now and can easily grow several more in your vege garden or in a pot on your verandah.

Vinegar is a fabulous anti-viral any vinegar will work, but the best is Apple Cider vinegar. Viruses are quite nasty things they invade one of your cells, devour it from the inside to feed themselves them migrate to another cell, where they repeat the process, breeding as they go. They are tough and hardy but are vulnerable when they are in your blood, looking for a new cell to invade. This is where vinegar comes in. Vinegar is believed to work by very slightly changed the pH in your blood not enough to harm you, but enough to make your blood hostile to a virus. So hostile that the virus dies before it can find a new cell. A tablespoon of vinegar in a glass of water 2-3 times a day for an adult is usually effective within several days. If this sounds vile, just try it. If you have a cold (or any virus) you may be surprised at how much your body is craving it. When you go to have a dose and cant bear the thought of it, youve
had enough.

Antiviral herbs include Olive Leaf, Astragalas and Elder Flower.

Astragalas is also regarded in Chinese Medicine as being as good immune booster, as is Echinacea. Both these herbs need to be taken only in short sharp doses when they are needed – and then stopped. Neither is meant to be taken all the time. In fact research in Germany has suggested taking Echinacea over a long period of time will eventually weaken your immune system.

The flower essence Illawarra Flame Tree is also said to be useful for enhancing natural immunity.

Thyme and Sage are very good for a sore throat. You can take them as a tea. The flower essence Bush Fuchsia also balances the throat from an energetic perpective.

Vitamin C is also good either in tablet or powder form as per the recommended dosage or in the form of Rosehips tea, freshly squeezed orange juice, or a hot lemon drink (add some honey to soothe your throat and for its antiseptic effect).

Other things you can do to prevent colds and to hasten your recovery include:

• Keep warm, especially if its windy, paying particular attention to your chest and feet.
• Pace yourself. According to Louise Hay, rushing around and doing too much are the emotional triggers that can leave you susceptible to a cold.
• Rest. Winter is a time of slowing down, going within, and restinganimals hibernate and plants go dormantthere is a good reason for this. Copy them.
• Slow cooked soups and casseroles, hot teas and warm lemon and honey drinks are perfect comfort and soul food to keep you healthy during winter.
• Eat orange foods. Mother Earth colour codes her plants so you can know at a glance what nutrition they contain. Orange indicates beta carotene and/or vitamin A both tonics for the mucous membranes. Vitamin A is also present in high quantities in fish and fish oilespecially Cod Liver & Halibut Oils. .

Many of my clients also swear by my Cold and Flu Formula, which contains all of the herbs mentioned (and more). This is suitable for both adults and children. Take it at the first sign of a cold, or even if a cold has taken hold, and follow the advice above.

Kids also love the old fashioned remedy Garlic Honey.

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